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Over the past week, my vocabulary of 268,391 words expanded by one, and that word is “prepper.” A prepper is not to be confused with a preppie, who is a person who has attended an exclusive private high school. A prepper is someone who believes that The End is nigh, that society is breaking down, and that if you want to be around to see what’s left, it’s best to prepare for The Wrath to Come.

What you would be looking at would be civil unrest in most mayor US cities and thousands of minor ones as well. Once the images of people looting and getting away with it hit the TV you’re looking at thousands of bums thinking of doing the same thing and rushing out the door to the nearest store. That gets bad pretty fast. You’re talking about looting, fires, closed stores, destruction of vehicles and private property, and given US context some gang related activity taking advantage of the lawless situation as well to settle scores. While invasion of residential properties wont...

With all that said, my time with these four families did influence my thinking about being prepared. Gliding the endless, overstocked aisles of my brightly lit supermarket, I inexplicably paused in front of the canned beans. "These, as all times, are uncertain," I mulled and started to reach for a can. Pictures of the families near the tsunami damaged nuclear power plant in Japan, evacuating their wind and water battered homes, quietly queuing up for food and water, seeped, like the radioactive water into the ocean, into my thoughts. I glanced around — I was alone. I fast plucked a...

One Valley "prepper" is stocking up on food for her family even though she isn't worried about the world ending in 2012. Lisa Bedford is a prepper. She stockpiles food and supplies for something that "could" happen like the loss of a job or the economy getting worse. Lisa Bedford thinks it's foolish for people to prepare for a certain doomsday date. "Y2K still haunts people who wasted a lot of money getting ready for one day. And when they discovered the morning after that nothing severe had happened, they felt foolish. They had wasted a lot of money."

This is a basic famine menu that will keep you alive. Variety of taste will come from supplementation from a vegetable garden, fruit trees, raising animals, bartering, spices and additional items you store. Each family must be creative to vary the taste of the foods and to add additional items that will make the basic foods most appetizing for you.

Every house has food in the pantry that has been there for weeks if not months, but according to food experts, you may want to think twice before throwing those items out. Many common food products last far longer than you might think.

I just got asked by my local TEA Party to speak to the group about being a "Prepper". I have always kept quiet about it since I live in a rural area I assumed my neighbors knew how to "rough it" and grow things. Much to my surprise - they don't! So, I will start with basic survival prep and if they want more I will go all the way down to rendering fat to make soap and how to trap/kill and dress animals. I am also going to document "skills" of our members so if TSHTF will be able...

Top Post-Collapse Barter Items And Trade Skills Brandon Smith June 10th, 2011 The concept of private barter and alternative economies has been so far removed from our daily existence here in America that the very idea of participating in commerce without the use of dollars or without the inclusion of corporate chains seems almost outlandish to many people.However, the fact remains that up until very recently (perhaps the last three to four decades) barter and independent trade was commonplace in this country. Without it, many families could not have survived. Whether we like it or not, such economic methods will...

The situation in the United States has deteriorated and will continue to do so unless drastic action on our federal, state and local government deficits is taken. We need to trace what happens during an economic collapse. In preparation for a collapse here is what you can do personally to avoid being swept away by the tidal wave of fear, anxiety and trepidation. During the early stages of a nation collapsing economically, the debt of the nation swells almost uncontrollably. We, in the United States are already there. From the burgeoning debt loads come the setting for collapse. While the...

Freepers: Due to last night's storms in Central Arkansas, our family found out the HARD WAY just how important communications (commo) is when the power goes out, telephone lines get blown down, the cell towers are destroyed, and we are left in the dark with multiple tornados inbound.Anyways, I wanted to solicit Freepers help on unconventional communications with family such as Citizen Band (CB), FRS, GMRS, etc. I am going to attend our Central Arkansas Ham Radio meeting next month and see about going "one step further" to get my ham radio license. Please read below for my situational needs.

The laundry room of Tamara Huffman’s split-level here in the Shenandoah Valley is filling up with cheese powder and freeze-dried ham, at the ready should her husband, Brian, lose his job anytime in the next 25 years. She carves a little bit out of their already tight budget every month to buy some more. This sort of stockpiling was once the purview of survivalists preparing for Armageddon. But Huffman’s fear isn’t the end of the world so much as the $5 basket of grape tomatoes she bypassed the other day at her local supermarket.

Vanity head up: This weekend one of the Discount club stores is having an open house - a good opportunity to stock up without a paper trail. “Spring Taste of Sam’s Club Open House is coming, 4/15-4/17, each day 11am-6pm. No non-Member upcharges during this event, so bring a friend! “ Sometimes it’s useful to buy in bulk, but typically you need to have a membership – this is one occasion when you can get those member prices, without letting everyone know you’re prepping.

ROME (AP) -- Global food prices are the highest in 20 years and could increase further because of rising oil prices stemming from the unrest in Libya and the Mideast, a U.N. agency warned Thursday. Skyrocketing food prices have been among the triggers for protests in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, and raised fears of a repeat of the food price crises in 2007 and 2008. Some experts point to key differences compared to those years: for one, the price of rice, a dominant component of regular diets in many parts of the world, is much lower today. Still, aid group...

February is done and I have tallied numbers for my backyard coop egg production for the month. I recorded my 2010 egg production on a different thread here... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2618506/posts JAN 2011 128 Eggs 4.129/Day A.E.: 62.37 G 7983 G. Total 281.592 Oz. 17.6 lbs. Feb 2011 133 eggs 4.75/Day A.E.: 62.21 G 8274 G. Total 291.857 Oz. 18.24 lbs. NOTES: * A.E.= Average Egg (Weight in Grams) * 1 Oz.= 28.3495 Grams

A new breed of survivalists is emerging in this country. I affectionately refer to them as Suburban Survivalists. She (yes, she) is most likely a minivan driving soccer mom who spends most of her time running the household, brushing up on her survival skills by watching Bear Grylls, and practicing target shooting on the weekends. Advertisers already know the power and influence of these women. They make almost 80% of the family purchasing decisions, thus wielding significant power over a large portion of the GDP. While the husband is bringing home the bacon, she is figuring out how she can...

A week ago, when we reported on a move by the Dutch central bank that ordered a pension fund to forcibly reduce its gold holdings, we speculated that "this latest gold confiscation equivalent event is most certainly coming to a banana republic near you." And while we got the Banana republic right, the event that we are about to describe is not necessarily identical. It is much worse. A bill proposed in the State of Washington (House Bill 1716), by representatives Asay, Hurst, Klippert, Pearson, and Miloscia, whose alleged purpose is to regulate secondhand gold dealers, seeks to capture "the...

Are The Wild Teacher Protests In Wisconsin A Prelude To The Economic Riots That Are Coming To America?Feburary 18, 2011 Have you seen video of the teacher protests that are going on in Wisconsin? We haven't seen anything like this in America in quite some time. If you haven't seen video of the protests yet, some very good raw footage is posted below. On the one hand it is good to see Americans coming together and standing up for what they believe in, but on the other hand what these teachers are freaking out about shows just how much America...

The World Bank says food prices are at "dangerous levels" and have pushed 44 million more people into poverty since last June. According to the latest edition of its Food Price Watch, prices rose by 15% in the four months between October 2010 and January this year. Food price inflation is felt disproportionately by the poor, who spend over half their income on food. The Bank called on this week's G20 meeting to address the problem. The World Bank's president, Robert Zoellick, said in a statement: "Global food prices are rising to dangerous levels and threaten tens of millions of...

But almost immediately after giving that answer, Hallor and Blacher were interrupted by a public affairs official from CBP, forcing Hallor to try and clarify his answer. Still, the clarification was telling ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sSnxge6BGA Glenn Beck to cover this tonight.

Most of this gear is off-the-shelf and relatively cheap. Check out Cabela’s, CheaperThanDirt.com or SportsMansGuide.com for the best deals.Assumptions: 1. Civil unrest ensues. 2. Communications go down. 3. You may have to fight your way out of wherever you are. or on the way to your destination. 4 You may have to abandon your vehicle 5. You may have to walk to a prearranged safe place or rendezvous/rally point. 6. You will move quickly and not ‘camp out’. Rest, yes. Camp, no. 7. The weather may suck - majorly. Hot, cold, wet, snowy. Strategy assumes that you may lose your...